Mari
Once, Joey told me that he only started noticing parking meters after he got his permit. He brought it up when I didn’t know what to talk about, like he’d been thinking about it for a while and he wouldn’t have another chance to say it. I wasn’t old enough to take the test, but after that I started noticing them, too.

Joey
This is weird, but I’ve always liked how thick nickels are. They’re the only coins that feel three-dimensional. After I started driving, I started using all my dimes and quarters, and the nickels started collecting under the seats and in my pockets. Even if I could go anywhere by myself, I’m not sure where I’d go- everywhere around here looks the same, and to stop, you have to pay for it.
It was cool, knowing that I could tell Mari that and that she’d listen.

February 1st

Mari
Joey has this thing for band t-shirts, and they made him look cute without him really knowing it. No one could wear a Sex Pistols shirt like he could. I imagined telling this to him whenever I saw him with it, but I guess it’s a good thing I never did.
Around the beginning of February, he asked me about some book I was reading, and his sleeve brushed the back of my neck. I hate the Sex Pistols, but I listened to them for hours that night.

Joey
I like the stuff Mari reads. It makes her seem deep, like the books she chose hint at hidden parts of her.
I went to the library on a Saturday and tried to find something she was reading in English. It’s a really old building, and after I used the doorknob my hand smelled like I’d rubbed coins on it- like countless people had touched it. That smell always reminds me of her books now.

Mari
The thing about some people is that they live inside themselves too much. Even if you start talking to them and trying to understand them, they put this wall up so you can’t tell what they’re actually feeling. When I would hang out with Joey, it was always as if he didn’t want me to know if there was something there. Sometimes it was hard even to get him to talk to me.
Sometimes I wanted to see Joey cry, because I’d know he was letting me in.

February 7th

Joey
I was talking to Mari while we were hanging out with some people, and she wouldn’t stop looking at me. Like right at me, as if she was trying to get me to say something.
I would’ve asked her why, but I didn’t want her to stop, so when she ran out of things to say I started talking about the parking meters outside the window of the pizza place.

February 13th

Mari
It was the day before Valentine’s Day, and he was wearing the shirt. That’s the first thing I remember when I think about it- Sid Vicious leering at me. It took me a second to see the book he was holding, and when he put it on my desk I jumped. “Hey, you were right. This was good.” I watched him while he moved his finger through the folds of his earlobe, hoping he’d say something else. When he did, I was startled. “Uh… I was wondering if you wanted to do something tonight.”

Joey
I couldn’t figure out how to close my mouth when I was done talking. I hooked my thumb into the belt loop of my jeans, thinking about how weird it felt.
Mari was doing something with her face that I wouldn’t let myself believe was a smile. “Yeah… yeah, I would.”
My hand crept into my pocket, and I rubbed my fingers against the edge of one of my nickels, imagining what holding her hand was going to feel like.